Marakay Rogers

America's most uncoordinated childhood ballet and tap student before discovering that her talents were music and writing, Marakay Rogers finally traded in her violin for law school when she realized that she might make more money in law than she did performing with the Potomac Symphony and in orchestra pits around the mid-Atlantic. Unfortunately, she forgot to factor in the student loan repayments! She has never recovered from being chewed out by Terrence Mann in public for hanging up her bow.

A graduate of Wilson College (PA), Marakay is also a writer, film reviewer and interviewer. Additionally, as of 2014, she serves as vice-chair of the Advisory Board of the Beaux Arts Society, Inc. and is a member of GALECA.

She's also taught college-level communications, writing, theatre criticism and English literature classes, has received multiple writing awards for several small-press novels, and is listed in Marquis' "Who's Who in America". She has done additional post-collegiate English and drama studies coursework with Open University (UK) in drama and literature.

Her junior high English teacher was Broadway star Katrina Yaukey's mother, Kay Yaukey. (Her high school math teacher was Ordean Yaukey, Katrina Yaukey's father, but between Marakay's mother, an editor, and Katrina's mother, English won out.) Marakay is senior theatre critic for Central Pennsylvania and a senior editor for BWWBooksWorld as well as a classical music reviewer. In her free time, Marakay practices law and often gets it right.

Uzbekistan, home of Uzbeks. And of Orthodox churches, one of which is being infiltrated during Mass by a group of armed men who surround the village priest. Once the guns are on him, he produces a satellite phone from his robes and calls his handler. In English, in an American accent. Ruslan Denisov has captured an undercover CIA agent, and he's on Raymond Reddington's BLACKLIST.

Lancaster's music scene has been greatly enriched by the stirrings of cabaret that have begun over the past few years. The end of January was notable, however, for two days of outstanding cabaret in a row on the 30th and 31st, first with Lancaster-based performer Reji Woods at the Ware Center, and then with Lancaster-bred performer Jonathan Groff giving a fundraiser at Ephrata Performing Arts Center.

After months off screen, THE BLACKLIST needed to come back with a bang. There's shooting and explosions aplenty in 'Luther Braxton' (No. 21), as well as Ron Perlman, but it's more likely the placement after the Super Bowl than the predictable moments that will give this a ratings bump let's see the ratings for part two of the episode on Thursday night.

When is a jukebox musical not a 'jukebox musical'? If anything, it's when the musical is by its subjects, when they're an integral part of putting the show together. If JERSEY BOYS were any less a jukebox musical, it would be the original band on stage talking about their story and giving a concert themselves. With music by band member and composer Bob Gaudio, lyrics by 'Fifth Season' Bob Crewe -- in short, with the music and lyrics by the band's songwriters, one of whom was a band member, and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, JERSEY BOYS isn't as much a jukebox musical as it is a musical documentary of a hair-raising story that wasn't in the news at the time.

It's an amusing show, and it's not so female-oriented that men won't be able to get a few laughs at it as well. It's surprisingly free of male-bashing, celebrating women rather than complaining about the opposite sex, and it's relatively gentle, although if you're easily embarrassed by the subject of masturbation, don't bring family members who will be dying to tease you about it after the section on sex. If you see it for no other reason, see it for the cast themselves.

Theatrical Rights Worldwide wanted a new version of GHOST: THE MUSICAL for regional theatres. Director Marc Robin's initial publicly-presented revisions reveal an entirely new face of Bruce Joel Rubin's stage version of his beloved film. It's spare, clean, and shows signs of major improvement to a flawed musical.